


Anemoia

by smokeyzz



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), Memories, Wild (Linked Universe)-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2020-06-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:13:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24635887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smokeyzz/pseuds/smokeyzz
Summary: anemoia - n. nostalgia for a time you’ve never knownLink gains some memories that are not is own. It isn't until he joins the other Links, as Wild, that he starts to understand where these memories are coming from.
Comments: 13
Kudos: 271





	Anemoia

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!! This is just a little oneshot I wrote, it's small and it's basically me thinking about if Wild has some sort of memories from the others and running from it. Hope you like my rambles lol

_anemoia - n. nostalgia for a time you’ve never known_

  
  


Link doesn’t exactly know when this… Nostalgia first started happening. But he does remember his first real feeling of intense nostalgia. 

It was his first time travelling to Lurelin Village, at first it was somewhat normal deja vu, a feeling that he had been to this village before he lost all of his memories, 100 years ago. When he passed by the man made tower is when he started getting an intense emotion of nostalgia but he quietly pushed it down and continued onward to the beach.

It became even more intense when he started riding a small sail, he was hoping this would be an easier way to travel to the camp of monsters that have been terrorizing the fishers. It wasn’t until he looked over the edge at the water, did the strange nostalgia burst in his chest. 

He stared at his reflection in the water, blinking when he felt suddenly out of place. Like he was on the wrong type of boat (brown not red), on the wrong type of ocean (it doesn’t seem to be as Great?). He feels like his reflection should be different, younger, with windswept hair and freckles splashing his cheeks instead of eyes that look hundred of years old, hair that’s getting a tad too long and scars being the only thing on his cheeks. 

Link blinks, and suddenly the nostalgia vanishes without a trace. There’s nothing there anymore, and it’s back to ordinary amnesiac Link, a man out of time. He tries to shake it off and focus back on his side quest. But Link can’t get the sight of a young boy with windswept hair and freckles out of his mind for a long time coming. 

  
  


The next time it happened, he was preparing to travel up the Hebra Mountains to Rito Village.

There he spots a lone wolf off in the distance, it was a bit odd seeing a wolf completely by itself when they usually travel in packs. But the longer Link stares at the wolf, the more the wolf starts to look strange? Different? 

It’s like any other wolf Link had encountered before but for some reason Link thinks there should be a mangle on its paw, and that it should have blazing blue eyes instead of the dark ones it has right now and a distinct marking on its face.

But most importantly Link feels like the wolf shouldn’t be alone. There should be something? No, someone on it’s back. Urging the wolf forward, making the journey less lonely.

Link could almost hear a familiar impish laughter before he blinks and the memories(?) stop and Link is once again confused at his own thoughts.

A wolf with blue eyes? A laughter he does not recall?

Link tries to shrug it off and continue on but he can’t help but be distracted all the way until he gets to Rito Village. Where the shrill cry of Vah Medoh shakes him out of stupor. 

  
  


It happened again when he revisited the Temple of Time. 

He’s on the Great Plateau just passing by when he sees the Temple and has a sudden urge to see it once again. He keeps an eye out for any monsters while he walks into the ruins of the Temple. When he was here before he didn’t really pay attention to much other than getting to the statue and to the old man that turned out to be the king’s spirit.

This time, Link pays attention. He looks at the walls, the floor, the flora growing throughout and the cracks all over the place.

It wasn’t until he’s in front of the Goddess statue once again that he starts to get the odd nostalgia again.

He has a feeling that the statue wasn’t here originally but he has no way of knowing if that’s true. He could almost see another room in its place. Where the Master Sword should be.

Where the Master Sword should be? 

Link has a burning remembrance that the Master Sword should be here instead of in front of the Great Deku Tree. And for some reason Link has a bitter taste in his mouth.

Like somehow, somewhere, (sometime?) the Master Sword turned it’s (her?) back on him. 

Link turns and flees the Temple of Time, the Master Sword feeling like it’s burning through his back. His body feels out of place, like it was never really his to begin with. 

He uses another sword for the rest of the day and tries to get the sinking feeling to go away.

  
  


The uncomfortable nostalgia and deja vu have settled down somewhat but Link still has some odd feelings and emotions at some points.

Feelings like his body is too big or too small, too young or too old, his hair is too long or not the right color. His eye color is the wrong shade of blue and there’s no distinctive markings on his face other than the centuries old scars. 

At one point Link feels like there should be three more of him? Colors come to mind (Green, Red, Blue and Violet?) but Link tries to shake it off as the heat of the sun, he is in the Gerudo Desert after all.

Emotions like sadness and fondness when he sees a seagull, gratefulness every time he sees a fairy, companionship of old knights, and… Fear.

Fear of his blood being spilled leads him to avoiding violence at any costs. Fear of cursed masks leads him to putting away all the masks he owns in a chest under his stairs. Fear of giant birds leads to him jumping every time he hears a bird cry out. Fear of getting close to people because they’ll die at some point right? Fear of war, Fear in failing others, Fear in failing himself. 

Fears that are not Link’s, they never stay around more than a few days but Link can’t help but fear that they might become permanent. 

  
  
  


Other times, Link feels immensely lonely, like he should have a companion by his side. A fairy, on some days, a princess from shadows, a king with a red cape or a sword that dances, on others days. 

The intense loneliness makes Link seek out others instead of focusing on his journey, he talks to Kass a little while longer, he lets Purah tease him a little more than usual and he makes more trips to Hateno Village, to his slightly less emptier house, to new friends that welcome him with open arms. 

The intense loneliness makes him think more about the Champions. He sits down at Revali's Landing when he gets the chance, climbs up to Daruk’s sculpture to see more of the details, stares a little too long at the Thunderhelm in his hands, and glances up at Mipha’s statue for just a moment when he arrives at Zora’s Domain. 

The intense loneliness makes him think about the new Champions as well. Sidon’s optimism is always a breath of fresh air, Teba seemed to be sharp at first but really he’s a softie, Yunobo has a heart of gold even when he gets scared, and Riju makes Link feel like he’s not 117 years old sometimes. He visits them, talks to them when the loneliness gets too hard to bear, he thinks that they know why he visits out of nowhere at times but they never mention it and Link is grateful for that. 

  
  
  
  


It wasn’t until one late afternoon when Link got an answer. It was months after Link and Zelda finally defeated Calamity Ganon, the two were sitting in the little flowerfield that’s next to Link’s house. Link had just explained to Zelda about his blurry memories that are not his own.

“It seems to me that you’ve gained some memories of your past reincarnations.” Link blinks, trying to make sense of what Zelda just said. 

“You do know that the Hero’s Spirit is reincarnated, yes?” Link nods. 

“We are unsure of how many times the Spirit has been reincarnated exactly but it seems that you have gained some sort of deja vu from those past reincarnations. Oh how spectacular! Please, tell me every time you had this sense of nostalgia!” Zelda, now extremely excited to listen to everything Link is about to tell her, brings out a small notebook, seemingly out of nowhere. Link shakes his head in exasperation but answers Zelda’s questions nonetheless. 

  
  


It wasn’t until Link joined the other Links, as Wild, did he finally put some of the memories to faces. He thought that this would never happen and that he would never know where these memories came from and who exactly they belonged to. 

So imagine his surprise when he meets Wind, the young boy with windswept hair and freckles that Wild saw months ago in the reflection in the water. 

He takes a few minutes when he finds out that Twilight can transform into a wolf with a mangle on his paw and bright blue eyes staring back at him.

He does a double take when he sees Four split himself for the first time, he’s not very surprised though when the now split four heroes tell him that their names are Green, Red, Blue and Vio. 

There are some key differences however, Wild maybe thought Legend would be the one who’s distrustful towards the Master Sword not Time. Wild thought somehow Warriors might fear giant birds after he showed some dislike towards the animals but it seemed Wind had that fear instead. He thought Sky might be the one that’s fond towards seagulls since he’s always talking about his Skywing but it seems that it’s Legend that’s fond of seagulls. And well, the list continues. 

There are some things that were harder to pinpoint until later on in their journey. 

When Hyrule almost has a panic attack about his own blood, Wild finally crosses out that fear and helps his friend calm down.

When Wind starts a story about a red boat turned into a King in red, Wild tells Wind to tell him more, smiling when Wind gets even more into his storytelling.

When Time quietly recounts his story, late at night, about a boy too young in his own body, seven years and a fairy, Wild comforts him as best as he can.

When Sky explains about the spirit inside the sword and how she learned about happiness, Wild can’t help but wonder how she danced.

When Twilight comes to him talking about a princess from shadows with an impish laugh, a shattered mirror and a broken heart, Wild offers to be a shoulder to cry on. 

  
  


Wild doesn’t really bring up that he has some blurry memories of theirs. He doesn’t know how to bring it up and he thinks that maybe it’s for the best that they never know.

There are still some mysteries but Wild thinks that those too shouldn’t be brought up if the others don’t bring it up first. They’re his friends and companions, not just some puzzle to be solved and well, Wild doesn’t really mind if those mysteries are never solved.

Wild is just glad to have the chance to have met them at all.


End file.
